The Magnus effect was first publicized by Professor G. Magnus in 1853. The phenomenon is well-known in various arts including the curved pitches of baseball and the shooting of airplane guns transversely to the airplane's path of travel. The use of the Magnus effect as a windmill was disclosed in the 1926 translation of Anton Flettner, "The Story of the Rotor," published by F. 0. Willhofft, New York, N.Y. Various patents disclose the use of the Magnus effect for airplane lift, steering a boat, and other use for assisting in submarine steering. Briefly stated, when a rotating cylinder encounters a fluid flow at an angle to its rotational axis, a lifting force is created perpendicularly to the flow direction. If a rotating cylinder is mounted on a vertical axis, a force is developed at right angles to the direction of water flowing past the cylinder, left or right depending upon the direction of rotation. The Magnus effect is therefore ideal for windmills and other fluid flow power generators.
The design of Magnus effect windmills has heretofore been based upon a rotating wheel with Magnus cylinders as spokes, all mounted on tall towers. This has required a rotating head on the tower to point the wind wheel into the wind.